Two years later and Kaci Farrar has landed on the Kingfi sher City Commission.

Commissioners voted Thursday evening for Farrar to fill its empty seat.

The move was made during a special meeting and came after multiple bouts of motions to appoint someone to the seat failed due to a lack of a second.

The seat vacated in late August when Geoff Covalt was appointed mayor in a 3-1 vote by his fellow commissioners. That move came about after Roxie Alexander had resigned as mayor in July.

Covalt was voted into his original commission seat in September 2021 in an election that saw Farrar as his opponent.

Covalt and commissioners Dawn Taylor, Debbie Burpo and Kyle Mecklenburg were all present for the meeting, as was City Manager Jim Thomas, City Attorney Jared Harrison, City Clerk Brittney Hladik and City Treasurer Anita James.

Farrar was also present at the meeting and was allowed to state her reasons before the commission as to why she wanted to be appointed to the vacant seat, as was past commissioner Wendell Prim, who also asked to be considered to fill the position.

Chris Cameron was also a candidate for the seat. He was not present for the meeting as he was officiating a high school football game at Washington High School.

In the first round of voting, all three of the candidates were nominated by commissioners, but there were no seconds for all three, so the motions to appoint them died.

After that, the board discussed whether to simply have a special election to fill the seat, but it was decided that the special election could not legally take place until February and then the seat would come up for election in April, so it would be better to simply appoint a commissioner now and then have the special election for the seat in April.

After the decision was made to move forward with the appointment of one of the candidates, Prim asked that he not be considered for the second vote, as he planned to run for the mayor position in April 2024.

Burpo made the motion to appoint Farrar and Taylor seconded the motion. The votes of Mecklenburg and Covalt made the selection unanimous.

She immediately took the oath of office, which was conducted by Harrison.

Farrar has remained active during her time in Kingfisher said she looks forward to serving the city.

“I have devoted the past nine years of my life to serving the Kingfisher community, through the Distinguished Young Woman Scholarship Program and Altar Society, child welfare and MCART, home health and long-term care, and Kingfisher County Republican Women,” she said.

“My experience in our great city has given me incredible insight into the impact that government has on small business as well as the social and economic realities that the citizens of Kingfisher face, from the most vulnerable to the most successful.

“That’s why I’m serving. I feel that I am uniquely qualified to identify the possible risks and benefits city government decisions will have on a broader spectrum of its people.”

Farrar joins a commission that has seen its share of turnover and shuffling in recent years.

“It is my hope to learn from our existing group of outstanding commissioners and to use my knowledge and skill set to help them in their mission to further progress Kingfisher as a vibrant, safe and successful community,” she said.

There will also be two other elections in April of next year, with Covalt’s position of mayor on the ballot, as well as Mecklenburg’s seat. Covalt’s vacated seat on the commission that Farrar has now filled will come up for re-election yet again in 2025, meaning Farrar will run in 2024 and then again in 2025 if she chooses to do so.

No ruling yet from Supreme Court hearing

No ruling had been made as of press time from a hearing before an official of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

The hearing was in the case of Justin and Lyndy Mecklenburg against several entities, including the State Department of Education and Oklahoma State Board of Education requesting an approval of an application to assume original jurisdiction and a writ of mandamus.

A ruling from the hearing wasn’t expected until this week at the earliest.